


Send Off

by HanaHimus



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Gen, Mentions of past Persona characters, Pre-Canon, but not by name. kudos to you if you can guess who
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-21
Updated: 2019-08-21
Packaged: 2020-10-01 16:20:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20333860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HanaHimus/pseuds/HanaHimus
Summary: Takashi was a little boy when his parents divorced.





	Send Off

**Author's Note:**

> Part of something that could be a slightly bigger thing, should things go well with upcoming releases and all that. For now though, just a lil thing... Two characters from old Personas are mentioned, but not by name, along with one Original Character.

Takashi was a little boy when his parents divorced. He had been young enough that he didn’t remember it all… Just his parents arguing about something (maybe the bills that needed paid? He was sure they were always arguing about that), and his mother was getting louder and louder.

When he peeked out his door, all he could see was the glint of something metal and the shadow of his father, falling to the floor with a heavy thud. Takashi had wanted to run to him, see what was going on… But the fear kept his little legs from moving out of his doorway.

He couldn’t force himself to move until his father was headed for the door, not looking back for more than a moment when Takashi called to him. He’d looked so shaken, though at the time Takashi hadn’t understood what it meant. He still didn’t fully understand it, even at the age of seventeen…

And he’d given up on understanding it.

It was easier to just go with it, at least for now. Weekdays and half the holidays with his mother, weekends and the rest of the holidays with his father. If one of them were moving, the amount of time might change, or his mother would let him have a week at his father’s during the summer, but usually… It was always the same.

Things moved forward after the divorce, as if not much had happened. Both his parents moved on and, with time, were even able to be friendly with each other. If they weren’t going to be together, that was about the best Takashi could ask for.

His mom even found love, in an old mutual friend of theirs. She was pretty confident, a photographer and ex-delinquent… She was a lot like his dad, but just different enough to put him on edge.

He didn’t see his dad as often, and he wasn’t as sure about how he was coping with the divorce. He seemed to be doing well, but was he seeing other people? From what Takashi saw it looked more like he was pouring all his time into making sure he and his mother were living a good life…

They were both on different tracks, looking out for Takashi the best they could… And it left Takashi feeling lonely. He just wanted to do something, anything to earn their praise or their ire. Some sort of attention from either of them.

That’s when he heard a woman struggling on his way home from cram school. He could see her trying to break free from a man as the man tried to intimidate her. Usually, Takashi would listen to his mother’s advice as far as this went. Make himself known, call someone and speak loudly or something, to try and scare the man off…

But his want for attention and the fiercely protective attitude he’d gotten from his father were kicking into full gear. It didn’t take more than a moment for him to move forward, putting himself between the man and the woman…

When he did, however, the man lost balance, unable to keep himself straight in a drunken stupor. It had been all downhill from there.

_ “Damn Brat, I’ll sue!” _

He was arrested then, and things moved so fast his head spun. The way his mother sobbed as they tried to figure out what to do, the way his father said he’d teach the man suing him a thing or two if they ever met, the arguments the two had that followed…

They’d been arguing up to the day they were forced to send him off to Tokyo. His mother kissed him on the cheek and her lover pat him on the shoulder. His father gave him a firm hug and slipped him a model knife, something to keep his family close while he was so far away, he said.

Takashi had been worried it might be a bad idea, what with the record he would be transferring to Tokyo with… But he couldn’t bring himself to say anything, it was his father’s way of showing he cared.

He waved as the train pulled out of the station, tried to ignore the way his mother broke down and the way his father turned away, face in his hands. This was for the best, he reminded himself. He couldn’t stay here, even if he and his parents wanted him to, they had to send him away…

He just hoped they’d get along while he was gone.


End file.
